Plane with 3 aboard crashes into Palm Coast home

Firefighters investigate the scene after containing a blaze caused by a small plane crashing into a house in Palm Coast on Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. Authorities say at least three people are dead after the plane crashed while trying to land at Flagler County Airport.

Three people in a small plane are dead after crashing into a Palm Coast home about 2:20 p.m. Friday, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.

A neighbor who heard the crash said the plane apparently dove into the house on Utica Path, and that four of five people inside the home were shaken but not injured.

“There’s no broken trees so he nose-dived straight down,” said Jeff Sheeley, who lives five houses from the crash site.

He said it did not appear anyone in the plane was rescued. The house was destroyed, he said.

One visibly shaken woman from the house went to the hospital.

The plane was registered out of the British Virgin Islands, according to a Florida Highway Patrol release. The pilot reported engine trouble and then saw smoke and hit a patch of bad weather. Shortly after that, 911 calls came in about the crash.

A woman who lives at the home was in her bedroom during the crash and escaped through a window. She was treated at a local hospital and released.

The Sheriff’s Office said the woman was alone in the house. Others seen going with her may have been neighbors or friends.

Initial reports indicated the pilot of the aircraft declared an emergency about 2:10 p.m. after reporting severe shaking.

The house is at 22 Utica Path one mile east of the Flagler County airport.

The plane is a Beechcraft BE35 that was on the way to Knoxville, Tenn., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The pilot reported a mechanical problem and diverted to the Flagler airport, according to the agency. Three people were on board.

The agency did not have information about the departure airport.

Sheeley and another neighbor said deputies had evacuated the neighborhood.